“That the apologies
received from Mayor Wallace, Cr Barry and Cr Milne be accepted and leaves of
absence be granted.”

2. PUBLIC
COMMENT

Comments are recorded under the
item to which they relate.

3.CONFLICT
OF INTEREST DECLARATIONS

There were no conflict of interest declarations.

4. Recommendations to Council - 12
December 2017

a)

Wharves Update
(17/1736)

Report No. CDC2017/5/305 by the
Divisional Manager, Parks and Gardens

Speaking under public comment, Ms P
Hanna, representing the Petone Community Board, reiterated the overwhelming
community support, which included a community petition for the refurbishment
of Petone Wharf and support for the officers’ recommendations contained
within the report. She stated the organiser of the community petition was
appreciative of the officers support. Ms Hanna added that Petone Wharf
featured on the new Wellington version of the board game Monopoly and the
community wished to see Petone Wharf opened for this summer.

Speaking under public comment, Ms B
Scott, Ms M Drayton and Ms A Patterson-Spice supported the
retention and refurbishment of the entire Petone Wharf, as it was part of
Petone’s history. They explained their family regularly used the wharf
and requested it be opened for this summer.

The Divisional
Manager, Parks and Gardens elaborated on the report. He highlighted that work
was starting immediately to make Rona Bay Wharf safe, with work on Days Bay
Wharf to commence in 2018. He further advised that a report would be prepared
comparing the costs involved in retaining and refurbishing both part and all
of Petone Wharf. It was hoped to have Petone Wharf open to the public by the
end of the week, following temporary repairs.

Inresponsetoquestionsfrommembers, the Divisional
Manager, Parks and Gardens confirmed the upcoming report on Petone Wharf
would include all associated matters concerning the retention or otherwise of
the full wharf, including financial, user information and historical
information. The details concerning disposal of any of the worm infested
piles had yet to be determined. Consultants were investigating wrapping the
piles to seal them.

Ingeneraldiscussion, members
commended officers for the level of detail of the work undertaken to date,
and for actively listening to the public. The members requested officers to
take a precautionary approach.

(i) notes the geotechnical report from Tonkin + Taylor on the Waiwhetu
Aquifer, attached as Appendix 1 to the report, which concludes that work on
the piles at Days Bay, Rona Bay and Petone Wharves are unlikely to have any
impact on the aquifer;

(ii) notes that officers have commissioned further investigations in
respect of the Point Howard Wharf, following advice that some of the piles
are likely to have penetrated into the aquifer at a point which is above the
transition zone of the aquifer and covering aquitard as it adjoins the
greywacke bedrock along the eastern side of the harbour;

(iii) notes that officers will report back on future options for the
Point Howard Wharf once this information is known;

(iv) notes that a full underwater condition assessment of piles at Days
Bay, Rona Bay and Petone, have been completed which show that Rona Bay Wharf
is in the poorest condition;

(v) notes that officers have contracted GK Shaw to undertake the
upgrade works at Rona Bay Wharf following the recent completion of essential repairs
to Petone and Days Bay Wharves and that these works are expected to take up
to a year to complete at an estimated cost of $1.4M;

(vi) notes that Council has received a petition signed by approximately
2200 people who urge Council to reconsider its decision to remove part of
Petone Wharf and instead retain and refurbish the wharf in full; and

(vii) requests officers to provide a detailed financial analysis of the
two options (retain and refurbish full wharf or partly demolish wharf head
and refurbish the balance of the wharf), to assist it in making a final
decision on the future of Petone Wharf as part of its resource consent
application and in finalising next
year’s Long Term Plan.”

b)

Jackson Street
Streetscape Design (17/1680)

Report No. CDC2017/5/8 by the Urban
Design Manager

Speaking under public comment, Ms P
Hanna, representing the Petone Community Board and the Petone 2040
Community Group and Mr T Bennion, also representing the Petone 2040 Community
Group, advised both the Petone Community Board and Petone 2040 Community
Group supported the officers’ recommendations. Ms Hanna added they
envisaged Petone 2040 Community Group would work closely with officers in the
future in time for the Long Term Plan considerations.

In response to a
question from a member, Mr Bennion advised Jackson Street was under both heritage
and traffic pressure and the report was a good step in managing these
pressures moving forward.

Deputy Mayor Bassett advised that
Harbour Ward councillors had met with the consulting group and spent time
talking about the issues. He believed their concerns had been addressed within
the officers’ report.

Speaking under public comment, Ms L Dobbs, representing
the Jackson Street Programme, requested clarification regarding investigating
options for protection and enhancements of heritage buildings in Jackson
Street. She asked if there would be further chances to comment on these
options. She requested further clarification on the new street furniture
being sourced and installed.

Ms Dobbs requested that Jackson Street be retained as an
example of early New Zealand heritage and any street furniture or art works should
reflect New Zealand heritage, rather than overseas heritage. She added the
Jackson Street Programme agreed with Mr Ian Bowman, Heritage Advisor, that
there were several historical periods represented throughout the street,
which should flow throughout the street and not one period should dominate.

TheUrban Design Manager elaboratedonthereport. He explained that while streetscape
was important, the emerging most important element for Jackson Street was
retention of the heritage buildings, all of which were in private ownership.

The
Urban Design Manager explained the extensive public consultation had been undertaken
in a short time frame, since June 2017 and he believed the resulting work was
reflective of the community’s wishes. He acknowledged the high cost of
completion of all the proposals and stressed the design principles should be
adopted for the future, rather than being a contract document.

Inresponsetoaquestionsfrommembers, theUrbanDesignManagerexplainedtheHeritageReviewof 2008/2009 listedtheheritagebuildingsalongJacksonStreet.
He advisedthatfurtherworkonthatdocumenthadnotoccurred as Council had agreed it was not the correct time to progress
that work.

TheUrbanDesignManager listed a range of options
available to aid in the retention and enhancement of heritage buildings. Many
of which could also be applied to heritage buildings across the city.

Members commended officers for their work
and it was suggested a workshop on this matter be held in 2018.

1.(i) endorses the Jackson Street
Streetscape Design (JSSD) report as Council’s long term master plan for
Jackson Street, attached as Appendix 1 to (Link
to full JSSD Report);

(ii) endorses that heritage
buildings are the economic ‘heroes’ of the Jackson Street retail
precinct and combined with the pedestrian environment these are the top
priority for Council protection, further work, and funding;

(iii) notes that officers will investigate options for protection and
enhancements of these heritage buildings and report back to this Committee at
the next meeting;

(iv) endorses
that any new street furniture shall be sourced and installed in Jackson
Street in accordance with the JSSD;

(v) endorses
that any public art shall be sourced and installed in Jackson Street in
accordance with the JSSD; and

(vi) notes
that staffing and funding will need to be considered to implement further
work on the JSSD.”

(ii)notes that this review also meets the intent of section
17A of the Local Government Act 2002; and

(iii)agrees that a full section 17A review should not be undertaken at
present for the reasons outlined in the report, at clause number 21.”

6.

General Managers' Report (17/1306)

Report No. CDC2017/4/235 by the General
Manager, City Transformation

Inresponsetoquestionsfrommembers, theStrategic
Projects Director advised the officers were not actively considering
installing carparking technology to monitor how long a car was parked and who
was parking in each carpark.He added technology
for monitoring of carparking was rapidly advancing with many options
available at a cost.

The Strategic Projects Director
updated members that an acceptable tender had been received for works to
continue at Avalon Park; the Riddifords Garden project was continuing as
expected; and the Town Hall and Events Centre Project was progressing, with a
final completion date of May 2018. He advised that when constructed, all Council
buildings met the relevant earthquake strength requirements for their use.

The Strategic Projects Director further
advised the completion date for the Town Hall and Events Centre Project had
been pushed back due to the complexities of the work involved, which often
occurred with refurbishment works rather than new developments.

The General
Manager, City and Community Services highlighted that a new health initiative
“Turning the Tide” had recently been launched, which involved
organisations pledging to change the health statistics of the community.

The General
Manager, City and Community Services advised the new Huia Pool upgrade had
exceeded all expectations, with the opening hours for the new hydro-therapy
pool being extended due to high demand and the Learn to Swim programme was
also over-subscribed.

In response to a request for
clarification from a member regarding the numbers of new businesses within
the CBD, the General Manager, City Transformation advised there was a
combination of new businesses and existing businesses moving to new premises.
The Divisional
Manager City Growth added that retail activity was slowly growing as the city
recovered from the effects of the November 2016 earthquake.

In response to a quesiton from a
member, the Divisional
Manager City Growth advised a building consent had been lodged for the
foundation works for the proposed hotel, and that it was being processed as
expected.

The General Manager, City
Transformation advised the Tech Shop initiative was no longer occurring, as
there was no funding forthcoming.

In response to a question from a member,
the Divisional Manager City Growth advised officers
were working closely with a number of retailers and groups to promote the CBD
for retailing. He added that it was a difficult task, as those retailers who
were part of a national or international chain operation, were reluctant to
spend any money for local advertising material. He further advised that there
had been a concerted effort five years ago to put in place a CBD programme
similar to the Jackson Street Programme, but that it was not well supported.

6-Monthly report back on International
Relations Work Programme (17/1707)

Memorandum dated
7 November 2017 by the International Relations and Project Manager

The Divisional Manager City Growth
elaborated on the report and explained that the expected invitation to
Taizhou may be an opportunity to add that city onto the planned 2018 visit to
the USA and Japan sister cities.

In response to a question from a member,
the Divisional Manager City Growth explained the intent was to expand the
numbers of international students in the primary and intermediate school
sectors. He added the secondary schools and tertiary establishments already
had good programmes in place for international student recruitment. He
further advised that Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (WREDA)
had been engaged to act on behalf of the International Relations Division and
that the opportunities for international students within Lower Hutt were
advertised on WREDA’s website.

Deputy Mayor Bassett advised he had asked
officers to undertake a review of Council‘s Archives and report back.
He noted the report would include details on the adequacy of storage space
and the logistics of the public display of some of the archive material on a
six month rotation basis.